From                   21st May, 2008, Board 1

                                          Theme                Squeeze Play

                                          Difficulty            * * * *

                                          Dlr East             None Vul             Hands Rotated

                                                                                                 for Convenience

West spurns East’s suit and tries a surprise attack with the T♣.  Dummy’s Q♣ wins that first trick, and you can count 10 tricks, assuming that the Diamond finesse is working and that there are 3 Spade tricks to be taken.  This being matchpoints, you much prefer 11 tricks to 10.  How do you play the Spades?  And where is that 11^th trick coming from?

As East is the one with the long Diamonds it seems more likely that any Spade length is with West.  So, at Trick Two, it’s a Spade to the King followed by a Spade to Dummy’s Eight and East’s Jack.  East shifts to the J♦ won by Declarer’s Queen.

Now that the Spades have split 3-2, 10 tricks are assured.  The 11^th could come from a 3-3 Heart break.  Any other possibilities?

SOLUTION

There’s no rush to cash the Hearts hoping for that 3-3 break.  Nothing is lost by first cashing the A♣, A♦, and then the Spades.  Here is the full deal:

Here is the end position with one Spade left to play:

                                    Dummy

                                    ♠ T

                                    ♥ K96

                                    ♦

                                    ♣ J8

            West                                        East

            ♠                                              ♠

            ♥ J743                                     ♥ T8

            ♦                                              ♦ KT98

            ♣ KT                                       ♣

                                    Declarer

                                    ♠ 9

                                    ♥ AQ52

                                    ♦ 7

                                    ♣

The last Spade is played, and West is squeezed.  If he pitches a Heart then that suit provides the 11^th trick.  If he pitches a Club then a Club is lost to West, setting up a trick in the suit.  Note the importance of cashing the minor suit Aces before the last round of Spades.  And, also, that 4^th Spade must be won in Dummy otherwise the squeeze does not operate (Dummy has insufficient entries).

Keys to Success

- Cashing the minor suit Aces before finishing the Spades

- Making sure that the last Spade is won in Dummy

- Counting the Club pitches to ensure that a Club could safely be lost

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